Swansong
by Paradoqz
Summary: Years in the future, Jubilee reflects on the X-Men's past.


Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Marvel. Suing me would   
easy but not very profitable. Feedback and flames are welcome. 

***   


"Hey, guys. Yep, it's me. Came to visit you again. 

I know, I know... It's been a while. Sorry about that. Last year has been   
kinda hectic. Heh. Guess I'm hanging around Uncle Nate too much; starting to   
understate things just like him... 

Heh, betcha I know whatcha thinking Wolvie. 'That flaming overgrown pile of   
tin. Corrupting the kid.' Hah. Gotcha, didn't I? God, I miss you guys. I   
wish I could stay longer this time... Can't though. They're waiting for me.   
Oh c'mon, don't be like that, guys. I'll come back real soon and stay for a   
long while. It'll be just like old times. 

Hey Ororo. Your garden is as beautiful as ever. Strange how at peace I feel   
here. Not many places I can do that anymore. 

Every second I think Jean will come up and ask me whether I want to go to   
the mall with her and Betsy. Or maybe Popsicle's gonna suddenly jump up from   
behind a bush and stuff a snowball down my shirt. Scott'll frown at him and   
ask me about my grades. God... 

It'll never happen again, will it? No, it won't. You know I was the only one   
who believed the rumors at first? Everybody was saying that it was just   
gossip. Then they all said, that it wasn't the first time. That you'll come   
back, like you always do. 

Some still believe that, you know. 'The great X-Men will return one day and   
right all wrongs.' You guys are legends now. Weird, isn't it? I keep   
picturing Bobster hearing this and laughing his butt off. Hank getting a   
puzzled look in his eyes and saying something like, "How perplexing. I never   
anticipated such a phenomenon. This needs thought..." Hah. 

I knew though. Don't know how. Just did. When they first let the cameras   
into the Mansion, I already knew. 

Trish was all broken up. She was talking into a microphone, about the   
mystery of X-Men being at an end , and those small tears were running down   
her face. 

It was way harsh what you did here guys. Ev threw up when they showed it and   
Ange went whiter then a sheet. But you did it. You stopped him. 

Weird isn't it? How everything keeps coming back to this place. It's   
fitting, I suppose. This is home. Don't know who keeps looking after this   
place. After the Feds, the police and the rest of them left, the mansion was   
a wreck. We couldn't come. Emma said that it was too dangerous. She was   
right too... We still didn't make it out in time. 

Hey, the Danger Room! Been ages since I been here. Dang, but I hated it.   
Everybody could beat the snot outta me. I felt like such a loser. 

Hmm, it's not working anymore, of course. But they cleaned the blood off...   
Prof, how did this happened? I mean... it's so unfair. They say that   
theoretically, you were there. Inside Onslaught all the time. 

I'm sorry. You probably think that I've got no idea what I'm talking about,   
eh? That I could never comprehend the horror of killing the people I loved?   
Of being there and not being able to do a damn thing but watch? 

Bullshit. 

I grew up, Charles. Grew up real fast. I started when I saw your mangled   
body, lying there like a puppet with its strings cut. I started when they   
showed your face. Close-up. That smile... Those idiots! Saying that it was a   
final sign of your madness. You were happy weren't you? Happy for the   
nightmare to be finally over? 

I hunted down all the documents I could find. All the photos, autopsies,   
tapes. Everything. You got them all by surprise. One by one they got sucked   
into your spell and you grew stronger. Then the Sentinels. Striking New   
York, Washington and LA simultaneously. 

I wonder what went though you head when you stood there and saw them flame   
those people. I still don't know what happened. Uncle Nate says that it's   
possible that Scott and Jean's mindlink was too strong even for you to   
destroy completely and eventually they broke free. Them and the others. 

They did it. Took everything they had but they did it. Wolvie never told me   
the details but I figured the basics out. Even together they were barely a   
match for you. God, sometimes I wish I never saw the security tapes... 

It still comes to me in the night, you know... Warren with his right wing   
hanging by a thin, crimson strip of skin, screaming blood in your face as   
Betsy goes limp. Jean, bleeding from nose and ears, as she tries to shield   
the others... Bobby, getting up, his left leg a ruin of bone and gore, his   
face a snarl to rival Wolvie... Hank.... Oh Hank... The same old spectacles   
on your face, same sadly kind eyes behind them. A slightly surprised   
expression as you look at the pole protruding from your chest... I think it   
was this that did it... They just didn't care anymore. 

I see they rebuilt the wall. I guess I never did see Scott use his power to   
the full before. And Storm. 

In the end it was just Scott and Wolv though. Cable says that when they saw   
Jean turn the gun on herself, they just went berserk. That after that there   
was no way you could get into their heads, to much "interference", raw   
emotion. 

You did well enough, I guess. Wolvie limped for the rest of his life... And   
they said adamantium bones couldn't be broken. 

Weird, I always thought Logan could take Scott in his sleep. But fitting I suppose... That he'd be the last. The one to go the distance. 

Fathers and sons. Justice I guess. That it was his hand that dealt that   
final blow. Fitting. 

Our fearless leader. Heh. Remember how you hated that name? Couldn't stand   
it. 

I think... No I KNOW Uncle Nate is wrong. You didn't go nuts. 

Wolvie... yes. But I saw your face when you put that knife between   
Onslaught's ribs. You were crying. Not those small bitter tears of Trish',   
no... Yours were the tears of a kid losing something. Streaming openly down   
your face as you killed your father. As you killed your dream. As your   
family lay dead around you. Still you stood up to be counted when the time   
came. Duty all the way. 

I'm sorry, I hardly ever cry anymore. Wouldn't do for me to cry now. Being   
the X-Man and all. Gotta uphold the title. But I guess we all have to,   
sometimes. Gimme a sec, 'k? I'll be all right. 

There, see? All better. God, it seems as if it was all yesterday... Almost   
ten years. 

I brought you flowers. Daisies. I know, I know... They were Rogue's   
favorite so hush up. 

I brought you news too. It looks like we'll make it now. It was chancy for a   
while, but we are doing ok now. Remy is in Texas with Magneto, Cable and   
Shaw. They got the Provisional government up and running. 

Don't know about Sam... Last we heard, he was trying to get out of that   
Richmond disaster. We heard he led out almost the whole division. Remy said   
that it was a miracle. Shaw said it was impossible. Uncle Nate said, 'That's   
my boy.' Magneto just smiled. Men. 

They scattered and the stragglers have been trickling in ever since. They   
say Sam tried for Appalachians. Don't know if he made it. 

You wouldn't recognize him now. He's harder. Colder. Last time I saw him cry   
was three days after I made to the X-Force base. You remember, right Wolvie?   
You were there already. Don't know why, but somehow it became the center of   
it all. 

I visited Pryde and the rest before I came. You'd be proud of her Ororo.   
They, the Excalibur, were almost the first who came. Without them... I   
probably wouldn't be standing here, eh? Yeah, O: ZT was pretty good. We never   
knew what hit us. They had files on everybody. 

And then Genosha declared its support for US policy and sent them help..   
That first year was the worst. But we survived. Heh. Idiots. I mean. 60% of   
all elite and SF units had mutants in them. The Sentinel strikes did their   
damage too, but it was North's guys that really saved our hides. Totaled   
their infrastructure. Heh. It got so bad that candidates began dropping out. 

I mean after three presidents get offed, suddenly the post doesn't look so   
good, you know? Yeah, they bought us time. And then people came. From all   
continents. They came and we got an army. They came and we got a Civil War. 

It was so strange at first. I mean, I kept watching that tape with Spiderman   
stopping a robbery and then getting mobbed. It made no sense... But like I   
said, I grew up real quick. 

Emma and Sean tried their best to lead us out. 

They were waiting for us, though. They were waiting to kill us. No warning   
shots, no offers to surrender, they just opened fire... Don't remember much   
of it, really. That grenade knocked me out real good. When I woke up, we   
were in some farmhouse and me, Penny and Ange were all that was left of   
Generation X... 

Don't even know where their graves are... 

We are going to be ok though. We are dealing. It's hard, but we are dealing. 

Hard. Remy took it harder then most. Keeps blaming himself that he wasn't   
here. Oh, not out loud of course! But, let's just say if it was still the   
old days, there would be a hole in the roof. 

But we are dealing. I miss you, guys. Miss you, Wolvie. 

You saved us all at St. Lois. As always, the X-ers came through. Paid the   
price, but came through. 

They're buried in a tomb in San Antonio, you know. Pryde and Wisdom next to   
each other and the rest around them. They wanted to put you there too. A   
monument to the heroes of St. Lois. But I knew you'd want to be here. Next to   
Jean. And Scott. And Bobby. With your friends. You did the impossible, guys. 

They said that his heart wasn't in it. That only his duty kept him going.   
That he was a tired man by St. Lois. Maybe. He was still one of the best. 

We lost it before we even began. Odds were nothing. We've been fighting   
outnumbered 3:1 for years already. But we were tired. And he was smart. Cut   
our supply line. Maneuvered us into exhaustion. We lost it, when we saw them   
surrounding the city. Shinobi, our great general, started talking   
surrender, the bastard... Well that's not really fair, I suppose. He did   
well enough for a month against _him_. He was just tired. 

And then you and Pete of all people. Never figured you two for motivational   
speakers. Heh. Logan and Wisdom. The Demosthenes and Socrates of our time. I   
think the crowning touch was when you slugged Shaw Jr. 

God, we were tired. Not just physically, but soul-tired too. I mean, it   
wasn't just some schmuck we were up against. I think everybody in the army   
felt vaguely guilty going up against him. 

It's like if he was on the other side you were automatically on the wrong   
one, you know? Still, you managed it. Whipped us up for one last charge. I   
wonder were you surprised that Creed was the first one to follow you two.   
Even before Pryde. And you did it. Tore them apart at the seams. Tore us an   
escape route through the 7th Army. Through HIS army. 

I still have the scars. I don't wear the mask anymore though. I got off easy   
after all. Ange was there in time. Again. Cable showed me what happened, he   
"browsed through" a couple of survivors' heads. You paused. Don't deny it,   
you paused. All of you. There was always some tension between them and us,   
but still going up against each other like that... Creed snapped out the   
first and went straight for Thor's throat. Don't know why... it's like in   
those years he started to defer to you. Maybe because you were becoming more   
and more like him... He left HIM to you, though. 

Steve Rogers. 

Captain America. 

The Great Captain. 

He was gray. He wasn't wearing his suit anymore, just the fatigues. Tired   
lines around his eyes and mouth. He still gave you a run for your money. But   
you did it. You won... Or rather he lost. I don't think he was giving it all   
in the end. I guess we were not the only ones tired after all. 

Oh Ange? He isn't here. He and Penny and Tabitha took it on the chin with   
the 3rd at second Denver. We broke Gyrich's offensive but again we paid. As   
always. 

Well I guess this is it. They are waiting for me. I knew they would be when   
I came here. But... It's time for me to go. I know you wouldn't approve   
Wolvie. Any of you. But I am just so tired. So very tired. It's hard to be   
the last. They don't need me anymore. They will probably take it hard. 

Uncle Nate and Remy been treating me with kid gloves since Denver. It will hurt   
them and I'm sorry... But I'm tired. And I miss you guys." 

***   
"Hey, Rhymer?!" 

"Wot?" 

"Can you sing it?" 

"Again? I've already sung it a hundred times . Ain't ya tired of it yet?" 

"C'mon, Rhyme. They signed peace today. Sing it? The "Last X-Man's Ballad." 

***   
"Tell it, Witness. Tell about Jubilee." 

***   
"Bishop, you made him cry!"   
"Did not!"   
"Did so!"   
"Shut up, Shard! You'll see someday I'll grow up and I'll be a hero like   
her. I'll stand against the whole army. You'll see." 


End file.
